Thursday, May 22, 2008

Back!

Hey everyone!! It's back to normal around here, boo! Vacation was great and I'm working on sorting through the nearly 2,000 vacay pics we took to narrow down a few to throw into a slide show. Wisconsin was great, and so was the upper peninsula of Michigan and also the Eastern part of Iowa. It was CHILLY though! The first two days were perfect in the lower 70's, but then a cold front came through and it was in the upper 40's where we were most of Sunday and then into the 50's the rest of our time there. That doesn't sound cold, but when we landed here Tuesday afternoon it was 81! So we've already moved well into early summer. (And I always know it's summer when our neighbor's dog gets his summer haircut! I saw him today all shaved off and it just makes me chuckle!! And Pippin's mad at me now because I just gave him a bath....he has it so easy!)

We bought a TON of cheese and were able to keep it cool and fly it back in our suitcases. We ate our way across the state and had a great time. I'm now determined I need to learn to smoke my own sausages. I figure that's an easier task to take on than buying a cow and making my own cheese, or figuring out how to brew my own beer. I loved all the German/Swiss influences in so many of the towns, and there were so many beautiful Victorian homes built around the same time as ours.

My garden (and yard!) grew a ton while we were gone. I can't wait for some veggies! My new blackberry bush is starting to produce some fruit, so that's pretty exciting! The outdoor pool at the Y opens on Monday and I can't wait. We don't have a ton planned this weekend, just some things around the house and we're having some people over tomorrow night to play Mario Kart Wii, which I suck at and of course Brent is great at it. I really, really want the Wii Fit. That looks like so much fun too!

I've been following your adventures and can't wait to see a slideshow. I think it really says something when your souveniers are edible and your goal is to smoke your own sausage and nudge nature to move along the local produce growing. Perfect!